Author: Thomas Fuller

Source: The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/01/world/asia/01iht-thai.html

The Thai soldiers patrolling this hamlet racked by insurgent violence measure their progress modestly: two years ago, villagers closed their shutters and refused to greet them. Now most residents peer out of their wood-frame houses and offer strained smiles.

“The local people have started to open their hearts,”...

Author: William Wan

Source: The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/29/AR2009082902400_pf.html

For the longest time, the question just sat there on his screen. Cursor blinking. Waiting quietly, like a patient priest in a confessor's box. Religious Views: _____.

Creating a Facebook profile for the first time, Eric Heim hadn't expected something so serious. Hunched...

Author: Jeffrey Weiss

Source: The Dallas Morning News

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/religion/stories/082909dnmetrichramadan.3d3c14d.html

Members of the Dallas Islamic Center plan to break their daylong Ramadan fast today with traditional foods in an untraditional setting: a social hall at the First Presbyterian Church of Dallas.

The mostly Turkish mosque, Richardson-based...

Author: Shahzada Irfan

Source: The Houston Chronicle

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6592238.html

When no other European country dared to withstand the wrath of Nazi Germany, it was the Muslims of Albania who saved a large number of Jewish people from extermination.

Albania, a Muslim majority country in Europe, opened its borders during World War II and took in thousands of Jews fleeing from different countries....

Author: William Wan

Source: The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/21/AR2009082103876.html

They stream in through the doors every Friday -- a sea of Muslims pouring into a synagogue in Reston.

The men roll out long prayer rugs on the synagogue floor. An imam stands up front and praises Allah. And as the faithful begin whispering their prayers in flowing Arabic, their...

Author: Robert King

Source: The Indianapolis Star

http://www.indystar.com/article/20090820/NEWS05/908200448/

The Rev. John Hay Jr. reads the parable of the Good Samaritan -- who bandaged the wounds of an injured stranger and paid to have him cared for -- and sees a biblical basis for supporting universal health care, even if it means a greater government role.

Curt Smith reads the same passage and sees an example of someone who...

Author: Anema Qureshi

Source: InFocus news

http://www.infocusnews.net/content/view/38481/1174/

"On a Wing and A Prayer" is an intimate, funny family feature that takes its viewers into the sky with Monem Salam as he follows his American Dream of obtaining a pilot license even as he draws the attention of the FBI.

The film carries viewers deep into the life of the Salam family in the small town of Bellingham, Washington, not only...

Source: The Chicago Tribune

Wire Service: AP

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-ia-atheistbuses-iowa,0,6880378.story

The Des Moines Regional Transit Authority has suspended a driver who refused to drive a bus bearing an ad for an atheist group.

Angela Shiel was suspended on Monday after she refused to drive a bus with an Iowa Atheists & Freethinkers ad on its side. The ad reads "Don't...

Author: Erin Julius

http://www.herald-mail.com/?cmd=displaystory&story_id=228771&format=html

After talking with a Jewish woman at an Interfaith Coalition picnic Sunday in City Park, David Washington, a Christian, plans to attend a Friday evening service at Hagerstown’s temple.

Building such relationships is what draws people to the annual picnic.

“We’re intentionally trying to build bridges,” said David...

Author: Lisa Miller

Source: NEWSWEEK

America is not a Christian nation. We are, it is true, a nation founded by Christians, and according to a 2008 survey, 76 percent of us continue to identify as Christian (still, that's the lowest percentage in American history). Of course, we are not a Hindu—or Muslim, or Jewish, or Wiccan—nation, either. A million-plus Hindus live in the United States, a fraction of the billion who live on Earth. But recent poll data show that conceptually, at least, we are slowly becoming more like...

Author: Melissa Szumlic

Source: Tampa Bay Online

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2009/aug/15/na-itsnoteasy-beinggreen/life/

They're short, froglike and serving as ambassadors to the Middle East.

Not bad for a few handmade dolls living on a mural titled "It's Not Easy Being Green." The mural is part of an art exchange program with Amman, Jordan, initiated by the Children's Board of Hillsborough County and KidzCreate, the...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8198770.stm

A US congressional body has put India on a list of countries which have failed to protect its religious minorities adequately.

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom says India was added to the list because of a "disturbing increase" in religious violence.

It mentioned the anti-Christian and anti-Muslim riots in Orissa and Gujarat in...

Author: Raja Abdulrahim

Source: The Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-muslim-punk12-2009aug12,0,3121734.story

Shahjehan Khan rounded a corner at the Grammy Museum in downtown L.A. and let out a laugh.

Before him was a piece of memorabilia -- a destroyed school bus stop sign -- from Khan's punk rock band the Kominas, showcased in the museum's yearlong exhibit "Songs of...

Author: Emma Halgren

Source: Worldwide Faith News

http://www.wfn.org/2009/08/msg00062.html

Religious diversity is an unavoidable reality today – and an
opportunity, according to the participants of an interfaith
seminar held in July at the World Council of Churches (WCC)
Ecumenical Institute at Bossey outside Geneva, Switzerland.

The three-week course, which had the theme "Building an
Interfaith Community", was attended by young Christians, Jews and...

Author: Aleem Maqbool

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8196013.stm

On a street in the small Punjabi town of Gojra, house after house stands gutted and looted.

One home in particular is the focus of attention. The windows and doors are gone, what is left of the furniture lies gnarled inside, and some of the ceilings have collapsed. People are peering into a small bedroom at the back of the building.

It is from here...